Sellers

U.S. home prices rise in October by most in 6 years

The end of the summer buying season shows a traditional slowdown in the market but doesn’t detract from the fact that U.S. home prices have risen in October by the most in 6 years. Record low mortgage rates, rising rents and renewed confidence boosted demand in the once battered housing market.  At the same time, the [...]

How’s the housing market? Is your company hiring?

Real estate agents are often asked where we think the housing market is headed by people we meet.  By way of response I often reply with a question “How’s your company doing?   Are you hiring? Here in Silicon Valley we definitely see a direct correlation between the hiring patterns of local companies and the [...]

It’s Deja Vu all over again

I feel like I should be watching reruns of Lost – Season 1 and listening to Boulevard of Broken Dreams on my playlist (except I didn’t have a playlist back then). It’s like 2005 all over again, with buyers bidding 10 and even 20 percent over asking, zero contingencies and multi-million dollar cash offers all [...]

Monday Market News – Bay Area Rebounds depend on Location

I set out this morning to see how my home town of Los Gatos was faring in the property market compared to the rest of the Bay Area.  I started, as I often do, by running some basic calculations on median list price and median price per square foot to see where we are compared [...]

Carbon Monoxide Detector Law goes into effect

A statewide requirement to have carbon monoxide detectors installed in all California homes goes into effect July 1. The Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Prevention Act (Senate Bill 183) is a two part law that states the detectors must be installed on or before July 1, 2011, in single-family dwelling units. The law goes on to state [...]

IPO explosion fuels Silicon Valley Real Estate

On broker tour yesterday I visited a beautiful home newly listed by a friend of mine on El Gato in Los Gatos.   Although a modest 2 bedroom home, the owner had spared no expense in remodeling (right down to the $4000 kitchen sink!).  This home and it’s 1 bedroom rental unit in back are [...]

If you’re planning to buy a home in Silicon Valley this year you need to be aware of changes afoot in the loan business.  As of October 1, 2011, high balance conforming loan limits in the Bay Area are set to be reduced from $729,500 to $650,500 for a single family dwelling for both conventional and [...]

Top-Tier Homeowners Wait it Out in Los Gatos

Spurred by a recent blog from Altos Research suggesting that top end homes are on the market longer but take fewer price reductions I decided to see if this holds true in the Los Gatos market. As you can see, home prices tell you a lot about the market and in this particular case it [...]

Did you only bet the house?

3 years ago I could have asked 100 people if there was any disadvantage to refinancing their home loan to get a better rate and I’m sure at least 99 of them would have told me no.     Fast forward 3 years and the distinction between purchase money loans and non-purchase money loans (refis) [...]

Knowledge is Power

Whether you are actively looking to buy or sell your home or just trying to keep up with this adrenalin fueled ride of a market, you need stats and info to clearly understand how the market is moving. If you look around or jump on google you can find huge amounts of data out there [...]